Wednesday, December 31, 2014

In those days, the Aenochians laid the foundations of the first of their cities upon the confluence of the rivers Udinilay and Uphrates, in the land of Al Liosh. There they thrived and grew, though they did suffer under the yoke of Imbrisius. When at last they overthrew her, the people of Aenoch began to spread out from those lands, pushing down the banks of the mighty river Udinilay to the sea. They spread north as well, to the Red River and the Flintlock. Many moved into the distant east and had traffic with other men that settled there in years past. In tribes and bands the Aenochians spread out and settled the lands. They worked in stone and bronze and worshipped gods of many stripes.

The Aenochians grew in number and power. But to their kindred the Ethrum and Engale, they remained a backward people. For Aenoch's brief concourse with the dwarves of Grundliche Hohle, paled in comparison to the Ethrum; and the Engale were a great people for it.

During the Fourth Goblin Dwarf war the Aenochian joined the goblins and their arms were seen at the footsteps of Grundliche Hohle. But it availed them little for, when the world was sundered by the sorcery of Ondluche and the All Father driven whither he would, they fell back from the wars in dismay. For in those days strange creatures came to Aihrde, creatures not of the natural order, not of the Language of Creation. They were beastly things, creatures with the heads of lions and bodies of dragons, flying horses, all manner of combinations that more resembled a mad sorcerer’s nightmares than the All Father’s creations. Some were mistaken for gods, and the Aenochians fled from them or worshiped them as their need dictated.

Here the Aenochians took a wholly different course than all the others peoples of the world. Their worship of gods extended only to their use of them. Idolatry became the order of the day, as men worshipped creatures of all shapes and sizes and tribes came to call on beasts at their patrons. They adorned their houses, armor, tools, and weapons with the emblems of their patrons. The first chariots came to the world, made by Aenochian smiths, and these bore their princes and lords in battle against all foes. Though in truth, they mostly contested with each other, over domains great and small.

During the Stone Wars, the people of Al Liosh began to triumph over their neighbors and their domains spread down the long reaches of the river Udinilay. Towns fell to them, and the men of Al Liosh forced tribute from the conquered. Over many years and the rule of many kings, the whole of the country, from the fertile lands bordering the river, to the sea, lay under their standards. Men called them the Chariot Kings, and none could stop them.

So the 1950s saw an explosion in UFO sitings. The atomic age had begun with the detonation of two devices over Japan, the jet age was launched by the Germans in the skies over Europe, the Roswell Incident had just happened and the Cold War was exploding across the globe. Through in the development of mass photography and the ever growing legion of amateur picture takers and observers and you have a nice mix of expectation and delivery.

So the CIA tells us that much of what happened in those days was their doing. Over half the UFO sightings can be explained by the U2 Flight experiments, a super sonic jet that could fly higher than any normal craft of its day. This is what many of the people who spotted UFOs saw in those halcyon days of the UFO phenomena.

But what of the other half?

No serious UFO hunter thinks that all the sightings are anything more than natural or man made events. In fact, probably the vast majority think the vast majority of sightings are just that, with maybe 10% unexplained.

Its the unexplained ones that riddle us, that keep us watching the skies. Because there you might find, to your delight or dismay, something more than we are.

We are not alone. There's no question about that. The Universe is too young, too large. We are not alone. The real question is, can our neighbors come see us? And if so, would they. And if they did, why would they?

In the last 20 years we've visited Venus, Mars, the Moon, Jupiter, Nepture, Pluto, the Keiper Belt and Saturn. And we're just getting started.

The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The name is possibly derived from a type of firearm (called a dragon) carried by dragoons of the French Army. There is no distinction between the words dragon and dragoon in French; both are

The word also means to subjugate or persecute by the imposition of troops; and by extension to compel by any violent measures or threats. The verb dates from 1689, at a time when dragoons were being used by the French monarchy to persecute Protestants.

The establishment of dragoons evolved from the practice of sometimes transporting infantry by horse when speed of movement was needed. In 1552 Prince Alexander of Parma mounted several companies of infantry on pack horses to achieve surprise.[2] Another early instance was ordered by Louis of Nassau in 1572 during operations near Mons in Hainaut, when 500 infantry were transported this way. It is also suggested the first dragoons were raised by the Marshal de Brissac in 1600.

referred to as dragon. The title has been retained in modern times by a number of armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments.

According to old German literature, dragoons were invented by Count Ernst von Mansfeld, one of the greatest German military commanders, in the early 1620s. There are other instances of mounted infantry predating this. However Mansfeld, who had learned his profession in Hungary and the Netherlands, often used horses to make his foot troops more mobile, creating what was called an "armée volante" (French for flying army). The name possibly derives from an early weapon, a short wheellock called a dragon because the first dragoons raised in France had their carbine's muzzle decorated with a dragon's head. The practice comes from a time when all gunpowder weapons had distinctive names, including the culverin, serpentine, falcon, falconet, etc. It is also sometimes claimed a galloping infantryman with his loose coat and the burning match resembled a dragon.

Space.com takes a look at what defines life in this nifty little article. Trying to understand what we are looking for will be immensely helpful in understanding "it" when we find "it". So they define life and what we should be looking for as we see probes to distant planets.

Now with that out of the way, perhaps we can start looking for life that is not necessarily carbon based and get out thinkers out of their present mind set of a planet has to be at such and such distance form the star, have water, etc etc.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Time is running down on this Word of Aihrde Kickstarter. Less than a week left. We are less than 5K in pledges to get the Codex of Aihrde in FULL COLOR.
On the way, we have wandering monsters, secret doors and all kind of
goodies including an adventure by the esteemed Mr. James M. Ward. Help
us make it happen!

In fact, we want to do this sooner than later.
IF we hit the 25k Mark before midnight, pacific standard time on New
Years Eve, we'll give everyone who pledges before that time a FREE
adventure of your choice for backers who have pledged 45 or more..
Digital or print, you choose. It's that simple. We get to 25K by New
Years in LA, and you get a FREE adventure! We'll be on hand to watch
the ball drop on the New Year and this the latest Aihrdian challenge, so
join us in the comment section of the KS for some champagne and a FREE
adventure.

But we're going to need your help. Spread the word.
Post on your facebook, google, instagram, where ever you can think that
might bring people to the World of Aihrde!

Spread
the word! Let's knock these doors down today! And reap yourself a
little reward! You can copy and paste this handy shortened URL to
share: http://bit.ly/worldofaihrde

Monday, December 29, 2014

The Faulerde A whole different classification is given to those mortal creatures, created upon the forge of the All Father. These are called the Faulerde, the people of the All Father: dwarves, goblins, humans, sentients, giants, trolls, and other such creatures. They are wholly different than the Three Orders of the gods. Many of them consider themselves greater than (not more powerful than) any of the Three Orders. This is why, in the Days before Days, dwarven kings stood up to any number of the Val Eahrakun, demanding they leave their halls, and so forth. They knew they could not destroy these creatures of the Void, but they instinctively knew the All Father had made the creatures, the Val Eahrakun, and set them aside as flawed.

Of the DwarvesThe dwarves were created from the All Father’s rage and frustration. He tried to create the creatures of his mind’s eye and could not and he destroyed his hammer upon the anvil in the attempt. In rage he shaped the raw stuff of creation with his hands and thus the first dwarves came to be. They were called “The First Born” for they were the first peoples of the All Father and for that were cast in his image. They scattered across the world and unlike all those who had come before they set to mimicking the All Father and shaping the world to their own desires. In time they grew numerous and built kingdoms far and wide across Aihrde. There were 14 great kingdoms and these spawned a host of lesser kingdoms. They mostly settled in the far western lands, but also in the greater Aenochina landmass to the east. Some settled the island kingdoms of Alanti. Their greatest kingdoms were Gorthurag (First Home) and Grausumhart (Grimjaw). Since the end of the Age of Dwarves the dwarves have become scattered. Only a few of the great kingdoms of old remain and fewer still of the lesser. They are found most anywhere but are not common to most lands, living rather in small enclaves, towns, and villages. Only in the kingdoms of Grundliche Hohle and Norgorad-Kam are there dwarves in great numbers.

The dwarves hold one overriding religious belief, and that is that they owe a debt to their creator. Only through action and deeds can that debt be repaid. It is for this reason that there are few evil dwarves and many of their people, if not all, are very skilled craftsmen. It is important to note that a dwarven paladin's deeds speak as loudly as a smith's creations, so that one may repay his debt on the battlefield while another repays it on the forge.

Kim Dickens, who had a brief stint on Sons of Anarchy, has been cast as the female lead in the Walking Dead spin off. The spin off takes place in Los Angeles and revolves around a couple (Dickens) and her lover and a child...not sure the child's relation. Rumor has it that this region is not totally over-run by walkers and people are struggling in slightly better conditions.

I hope they don't go too far with that last theme. Part of the appeal to the Walking Dead is that it has really great post-apacolyptic landscape thing going on In Season 3, when Carol is talking to Carl about how quiet it is and what she wouldn't give to hear a phone ring, I started to weep bitter tears of joy, thinking of a post-phone ringing world. How wonderful it would be...how wonderful.

Apparently four of the top five pirated shows belong squarely in our hobby: Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Gotham and Big Bang Theory. All four of these were plundered online and downloaded illegally more than any other show . . . the other contender in the top five was How I Met Your Mother.

This says one of two things. Either everyone is one of us at heart and loves the genres we've loved for years. Or those who love this hobby and its genres, are very technically savy, far more so than the NCIS fans. Of course NCIS fans may be more worried about being caught by a super sleuth than your walking dead fan.

In fact, this might be the most interesting headline I've read all year. "NASA plans floating cloud city above Venus?" Its just an idea floating around NASA right now, whereby we put a giant blimp in the atmosphere above Venus, one that people can occupy and live in. The blimp would turn into even more blimps, a floating cloud city above the turbulent landscape that is Venus.

Now that's thinking out of the box. Once we prove its doable we can expand into our neighboring planet...of course we'll have to figure out how to harvest H2O from the atmosphere....but how hard can that be?

On a sword, the crossguard (or cross-guard, also known as quillons), is a bar of metal at right angles to the blade, placed between the blade and the hilt. The crossguard was developed in the European sword around the 10th century for the protection of the wielder's hand. The earliest forms were seen in late Viking swords, and it became a standard feature of the Norman sword of the 11th century and of the knightly arming sword throughout the high and late medieval period. Early crossguards were straight metal bars, sometimes tapering towards the outer ends. While this simple type was never discontinued, more elaborate forms developed alongside it in the course of the Middle Ages. The crossguard could be waisted or bent in the 12th and 13th century.

Beginning in the 13th or 14th century, swords were almost universally fitted with a so-called chappe

or rain-guard, a piece of leather fitted to the crossguard. The purpose of this leather is not entirely clear, but it seems to have originated as a part of the scabbard, functioning as a lid when the sword was in the scabbard.

In the 14th to 15th century, many more elaborate forms were tried. A feature of such late medieval forms is the cusp or écusson, a protrusion of the crossguard in the center where it is fitted on the blade. Also from the 14th century, the leather chappe is sometimes replaced with a metal sheet. An early example of this is a sword dated to c. 1320-40 kept at the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. A later example is the "Monza sword" of Estore Visconti (early 15th century), where the rain-guard is of silver and decorated with a floral motif.

After the end of the Middle Ages, crossguards became more elaborate, forming first quillons and then, through the addition of guard branches, the basket hilt, which offered more protection to the unarmored hand.

I've always enjoyed pieces like this, warm light in the midst of a dark or dreary, cold or rain landscape. Here lies a house, a destination that promises comfort and safety from all the many toils the world lays at one's feet.

The Dane Axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English Long Axe, Danish Axe, and Hafted Axe.

In the course of the 10th-11th centuries, the Dane axe gained popularity in areas outside Scandinavia where Viking influence was strong, such as England, Ireland and Normandy. Historical accounts depict the Dane axe as the weapon of the warrior elite in this period, such as the Huscarls of Anglo-Saxon England. In the Bayeux tapestry, a visual record of the ascent of William the Conqueror to the throne of England, the axe is almost exclusively wielded by well armoured huscarls. These huscarls formed the core bodyguard of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. The Bayeux Tapestry also depicts a huscarl cleaving a Norman knight's horse's head with one blow. The Dane axe is also known to have been used by the Varangian Guard, the "axe-bearing guard". One surviving ivory plaque from the 10th century Constantinople depicts a Varangian holding an axe that is at least as tall as its wielder.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

We've wandered through another weekend and are fast approaching the holidays. This, our latest Kickstarter campaign, is hammering along. Still remains one of our strongest, and we are only half way through.

But
we need YOU! If you can help spread the word on google, Enworld,
RPGNet, twitter, facebook, your own boards and other platforms, it would
be a huge help.

In fact, if we hit $20,000 in pledges by Christmas, everyone who pledges 45+ BEFORE that date will receive a bonus adventure (print and digital), signed by the author!

Help
us plunge this world's experience into the mysterious Winter Dark, tie
the Darkenfold into your campaign even more and make the whole thing
worth even more bang for your buck!

About the adventure: You'll
learn of the Blood Runes and how they aid you in traveling the Arc of
Time as you find yourself wandering the past, lodged in the Age of
Winter Dark, and the world as it was when the Horned God ruled supreme.

Monday, December 22, 2014

In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: verbum pro verbo) or root-for-root translation.

Used as a verb, to calque means to borrow a word or phrase from another language while translating its components so as to create a new lexeme in the target language.

Calque is a loanword from a French noun, and derives from the verb calquer (to trace, to copy).[1] "Loanword" is a calque of the German Lehnwort, just as "loan translation" is of Lehnübersetzung.[2]

Proving that a word is a calque sometimes requires more documentation than does an untranslated loanword because, in some cases, a similar phrase might have arisen in both languages independently. This is less likely to be the case when the grammar of the proposed calque is quite different from that of the borrowing language or when the calque contains less obvious imagery.

Calquing is distinct from phono-semantic matching.[3] While calquing includes semantic translation, it does not consist of phonetic matching (i.e. retaining the approximate sound of the borrowed word through matching it with a similar-sounding pre-existing word or morpheme in the target language).

In a
great blast Unklar vomited forth the Wall of Worlds, and it flowed from
the spires of Aufstag as a powerful wind, cold and bitter. Great clouds
of his stink settled far and wide across Aihrde, blanketing all in a
world of winter and dark. It settled upon the world as a fog, rising
into the heavens, dampening the light of the sun. Men named the fog the
Shroud of Darkness or the Cold Mist, for with it came a terrible
freezing. Sheets of snow and sleet blanketed the northern lands in ice,
and much of the south as well. The Shroud hung over Aihrde for 800
years, and in time the warmth of the sun and the pure, unfiltered light
of day, became legends to the people.

Despite their sad capitulation to the North Koreans (and the U.S. Government's sad defense of them) Sony has green-lighted Fire and Ice!! This classic Frank Frazetta cartoon from the long ago days of the 80s captured the feel of the early Heavy Metal and Epic magazines (cool stuff if you haven't heard of them) and brought it to life.

Robert Rodriguez is heading up the project. Apparently this has been a passion of his for some time, a huge fan, he's wanted to bring it to the big screen for some time. And Ralph Bakshi is producing. Very cool.

I have no idea why, but this article made me really want to start watching the XFiles again. Last year I started in on them from season 1 and made it mostly through season 2 when I got distracted (I'm a bit like the birds I feed...."eh pretty light what could that be" and off I go). They really hold up for me as they play with all those thoughts that linger in the back of the mind.

Of course its different now, with the net, people have a plethora of superficial information that they take as gospel (you know how it is, if you read it, it must be true) so people look at the mysteries of our past as being something of a joke.

And perhaps they are, perhaps all the UFO sightings are just hoaxes or mangled memories, or government conspiracies . . . but something doesn't ring true.

Right now. Literally right now, we have a dozen or so probes poking around our own solar system...Jupiter, Mars, the Kiper Belt, heck we even have one crashing on Venus as you read these words (well assuming your reading them in the month of December 2014). All these craft are zipping around and we haven't even mastered inter-planetary travel that allows us to send bodies in space. Imagine what happens when we do. Where will our probes be then?

Imagine now if elsewhere someone has long since mastered this. Maybe its a 50 year journey to and from. Maybe, just maybe, all those sightings from the 60s and 70s were real.